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Dave, don't go away mad. Just go away.

Kim Hollis: North American audiences were unwilling to Meet Dave. The film with a reported $55 million budget earned $5.3 million. What was Fox thinking?

Calvin Trager: Before: We're all going to be rich!
After: Oh shit!

Brandon Scott: Puff. Puff. Pass. That's what must have been happening during this production meeting. Too bad such a talent as Murphy continues to go to waste. Perhaps this will be his final straw in doing the mainstream "family" comedy and he can return to his edgier roots of Delirious and Beverly Hills Cop. A man can dream, right?

Scott Lumley: I can't even imagine what they were thinking. The premise seems interesting enough, and done right could have been really funny and a hit. Naturally, they dumbed this down as far as they possibly could and then completely blew the marketing campaign. The segment with the little crew member falling into the coffee and then cracking wise to the holder of said coffee killed this film stone dead. Seriously, whoever let that abomination out of the marketing department should be shot. From a cannon. Into space.

Daron Aldridge: Possible thought process: "Hmmm. Let's see: Eddie Murphy in multiple roles with a weird accent. It worked for Norbit and the Nutty Professor films. Besides, he made a ton of money for us with Dr. Dolittle." Depending on what budget numbers you believe, Fox may have just snatched the bomb of the year title from Warner Bros.' Speed Racer.





David Mumpower: I presume Fox was thinking that after Dreamgirls and Norbit, Eddie Murphy was bulletproof once more. Given the mercurial nature of North America's box office relationship with Murphy, however, one that rivals his turbulent relationship with Scary Spice, this was a huge mistake. This is particularly true of a project that bears a striking surface level resemblance to The Adventures of Pluto Nash.

Kim Hollis: I'll admit it. I'm a bit surprised it didn't do better. People reacted extremely positively to the trailer when it was shown in theaters (much to my dismay). I think in the end that Fox just didn't know what to do with this. Should they market it as a weird comedy or should they pitch it as a family flick? I think kids were ready to buy in and go see the film, but adults weren't agreeing.

Reagen Sulewski: I have to think the people greenlighting Eddie Murphy movies don't have any better idea than anyone else what's going to hit, although there did seem to be a particular lack of confidence here on Fox's part once they'd made it. My guess is that Eddie never touches another film with sci-fi elements in it for the rest of his career.

Max Braden: Switch out the actor; even after weak performances like Semi-Pro and the Love Guru, I could see a studio taking a chance on the Meet Dave idea with Will Ferrell or Mike Myers or Adam Sandler. Murphy's recent filmography makes him a sensible choice too. I think the idea just had a thinner margin of error to succeed, and this one didn't.

Tim Briody: This is the type of performance that makes you remember why marketing is important. There's probably nothing offensively bad about this movie, but I really don't think anyone was even aware it existed.

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